Airlines forced to give up passenger details

All airlines flying into Australia will soon be forced to hand over detailed passenger information, while the plane is still in the air, to help identify gun-runners, drug smugglers and terrorists.

The Australian Customs Service has initially targeted the top 12 of the 45 international carriers, accounting for 90 per cent of the eight million passengers who arrive from overseas each year.

The carriers include Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, British Airways and United Airlines.

In the latest initiative to tighten border security, Customs is requiring these carriers to allow access to their computer reservation systems by the middle of the year.

By the end of next year, it is hoped all airlines will be participating in the $42 million scheme. Airlines refusing to co-operate will risk their continued entry into Australia.");document.write("

advertisement

");
}
}
// -->

The passenger databases contain a rich source of information. Airline reservation staff record when a passenger's passport and visa were issued, how the ticket was paid for and when it was bought, the weight and nature of the luggage, and even meal and seating requirements.

Qantas, which accounts for 45 per cent of all incoming passengers, has given Customs access to some of this information since 1996. However, changes to the Border Security Legislation Amendment Act - which came into effect in August - now make information-sharing mandatory for all airlines.

As soon as an Australia-bound Qantas aircraft departs, Customs gains electronic access to the final passenger manifest.

Rather than study every individual, officers highlight only "high risk" passengers as stipulated in a software program that is designed to look for suspect travel and individual features. This process usually sees only 3 per cent of each aircraft's passengers flagged for further attention.

"We use sophisticated analysis software to essentially interrogate the information contained on the passenger lists," a Customs official said.

"It filters out the vast majority of passengers and leaves us to examine people who are deserving of greater interest. The major things we are after are drugs, weapons and terrorists.'

Investigators cross-reference the names of the targeted passengers against the major police and intelligence databases.

Typically, only a couple of passengers on each flight are singled out by this process and their details passed on to Customs officers at airports for further inspection.

None of the information is retained by authorities, in contrast to programs being developed in the United States.

Australia's expanded screening program, which is likely to provoke civil liberties concerns, follows the introduction of SmartGate, a facility that provides exact facial recognition of travellers.

Used by more than 3000 Qantas staff at Sydney Airport, SmartGate allows face-to-passport checking to be verified by a machine in 10 seconds. It has been adopted to counter travel identity fraud, a huge growth area for immigration and criminal rackets.

It is understood Customs has also trialled "face in the crowd" technology.

This allows for faces of known suspects to be included on a computer program, which is then scanned across crowds of passengers at "choke points" in a major airport.

However, initial tests have not proved encouraging.

The US has adopted some of the toughest passenger screening tests. Civil liberties groups have objected to moves to assign a threat level to all commercial flight passengers.

From later in the year, airlines will be barred access to the US unless they deliver passenger details to border protection officials.